The one with the thanksgiving reunion
by RebeccaTSB
Summary: Rachel is feeling nostalgic and goes about getting all the friends back together to have a traditional Thanksgiving like they used to. Don't forget to review :
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own anything.**

**It's about four years later, Emma is about 6/7.**

**R&R :)**

"ROSS!" Rachel bellowed through the corridors of their suburban home, that they had purchased just after the conception of their second child together.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's up sweetie?" Ross turned to see his very pregnant wife waddling towards him, clutching her cell and turning very red. Emma glanced away from the TV momentarily, and then returned to the documentary showing on the discovery channel, much too enthralled in the Brachylophosaurus (much to her mothers dismay) to care about what her parents had to say.

"Emma, why don't you go play dinosaurs in your room, okay, Sweetie?"

"But mom ...!" She started to protest, but Ross gave her a look that told her not to argue and she reluctantly slouched off to her bedroom, dragging a dinosaur picture book from the shelf as she went.

"Rach?" Ross swivelled back to face her as soon as Emma's door clicked shut, taking her hand and pulling her down next to him.

"My Father can't come for Thanksgiving anymore, apparently he needs to work on that damned boat," She sniffed,

"Aw, Rach, I'm so sorry," He sighed, putting his arms around her, privately relieved that he wouldn't be interrogated by his Father-in-law all week.

"I just wanted a family Thanksgiving for Emma like normal, before the baby comes, but now dad can't come, mom's with my sisters at home and your parents are on vacation,"

"They are?"

"Yes … You know they are they – oh, anyway, what are we going to do now?" She sighed, cradling her large stomach and leaning back into him. He kissed the top of her head,

"It can still be a family Thanksgiving, Rach,"

"It won't be the same with just the three of us, I mean, we're used to being surrounded by family and fr –" she stopped mid-sentence and looked at her husband with wide eyes, then she leapt up as fast as she could.

"Rach?" He called after her but she was already rushing out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello?" That morning Phoebe Hannigan had woken up, as usual, to the sound of her three children, Francis, Frank and Teddy, babbling away to each other happily in the other room. She looked at her husband, decided not to wake him, and then swung her legs out of bed.

"Mommy," Francis grinned from her spot curled up on Teddy's bed when Phoebe appeared, reaching out her pudgy hands to her. Teddy and Frank continued to wrestle on the floor, so Phoebe scooped the youngest of their three children, and the only girl, into her arms. In her brief two years Francis had managed to develop all of her mother's quirks, and Mike could tell that she would be just as insane as his wife, which he was completely ecstatic about. Teddy and Frank, at three and four, were her boisterous boys, who were the spitting image of their father. Phoebe surveyed her little family, a small smile passing across her lips, before she set Francis back on the bed and attempted to separate her children with the promise of breakfast.

Despite her attempts to leave him undisturbed, Mike followed her out of bed a few minutes later, plodding into the kitchen of their apartment in his boxers and kissing her cheek while she spread butter across four pieces of toast.

"Oh, sweetie, I didn't wake you did I?"

"Nah, I was up anyway," he grinned, kissing his daughter good morning and ruffling the hair of the two boys before pulling a bowl from the cabinet and fixing his own breakfast. Just after the kids had scurried away from the table the phone in the hall rang,

"Can you get that, Pheebs? I better get ready if I –"

"Yeah, I got it," She interrupted, having heard about his soft ball game the previous day,

"Phoebe?"

"This is me," She nodded, peering through to keep an eye on her children.

"Pheebs, it's Rach,"

"Rachel? Oh! Hi, hi! How are you?" she exclaimed, surprising herself at how much she had missed talking to one of her best friends. They spent around half an hour catching up, Rachel desperate to know about her family, and Phoebe wanting to know how she was handling her second pregnancy.

"So only a few months left, huh?" she sighed, waving a goodbye at Mike as he slipped out of the door to meet his friends. On the other end of the phone Rachel was sneaking a kiss hello from her own husband, who had just returned from the park with their daughter, who ran to hug her.

"Yep, in three months we'll have a little baby boy," She smiled at Ross whose face had split into a wide grin at her words. He mouthed 'who is it?' at her, "Ross, it's Pheebs. Pheebs, wanna talk to Ross?"

"Eh," She shrugged, as the phone was handed across. Rachel meandered after Emma into the den while Ross asked after Mike and their fast-growing brood, who they hadn't seen in almost four months. Rachel couldn't really remember how they'd started to drift, one minute they were meeting for coffee at Monica and Chandlers place and the next they'd lost contact. She supposed that she still saw Monica quite often, and occasionally Chandler too, but even their visits had been limited to every couple of months, as they'd been so busy with work and the twins.

"Rach?" Ross had finished talking to Phoebe and was waving the phone at her.

"So what's up Rach?" Phoebe asked, slumping onto the couch next to Francis who was attempting to build a castle with her blocks.

"Well, I was thinking, y'know we haven't all been together as a group for so long, not even just for coffee and, well, what with Thanksgiving coming up I thought –"

"Oh my god, Rach! That sounds so awesome!"

"You haven't even heard what I'm going to say," she laughed,

"Thanksgiving back together as a group! Like the old days! God, that sounds so great! Plus it'll give me an excuse to get out of Thanksgiving with Mikes parents,"

"You still not getting on with them?"

"I don't think anyone could come back from a pimp-spit story," she sighed, "I'll tell Mike what's happening when he gets back. Ooh, this is so exciting!" She cried, and then promptly hung up. Rachel smiled to herself. Knowing the wheels were set in motion made her feel a lot happier about everything. She peered around Emma's door and found Ross sitting on her bed leaning against the headboard, their six year old in his lap, reading her a story book which, from what Rachel could see, was the least educational and contained hardly any dinosaur references. She wasn't exactly upset that Emma had Ross' brains and interests, she was just a little sad that her daughter wouldn't be the popular cheerleader/home coming queen that she had been. She'd been looking forward to sharing fashion tips and talking boys with her little girl, but she could see in Ross' face whenever Emma asked him anything remotely palaeontology-y that he was the proudest dad in the whole world, and she was happy if he was happy. Kind of. She snuggled up next to them and Emma scooted over so they could curl up together, making room for the massive watermelon Rachel was stowing beneath her sweater. Ross glanced over at his wife, who, he noticed, looked a lot happier now she had spoken to her old friend. He had noticed she'd been pretty melancholy the last few days, but he'd figured that she was just bored. Maternity leave didn't suit his wife, though she loved being able to spend more time with Emma in the afternoons. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and she snuggled into him, sneaking a sly kiss behind Emma's head so she wouldn't be too grossed out. They knew that parent-kissing was way too disgusting to be witnessed by a 6 year old.

"Daddy," She prompted, pointing to the paragraph that he had yet to get to.

"Sorry, sorry, so anyway, the T-rex gave a mighty roar …"

* * *

"Hey!" Phoebe greeted her husband, seeming a lot happier to see him than he had expected.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, kissing her before making his way to the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich.

"Francis is napping and the boys are playing in their room. I've got something to tell you –"

"Oh, god. You're not pregnant are you?"

"Mike, I –"

"I mean, I love our children, Pheebs, but enough is enough, y'know?"

"Mike, sweetie. I'm not pregnant," He sighed relief and went back to lining his bread with cheese, "I do, however, want to ask about Thanksgiving,"

"We're going to my parents place, right?"

"No. We've been invited to dinner by Rachel and Ross. She wants to get the whole group back together and it's been so long, what with Joey moving to LA and everyone moving away and having babies –"

"You don't want to go to my parent's party?"

"Honey, last time I was in their house I puked in a closet and punched your Father, and you know they never really took to me –"

"Now, that's not true! You were talking with them just fine at our wedding,"

"We were discussing the place settings, Mike!"

"Well, with my parents thats a good conversation!" Mike leaned on the counter, examining his wife's face. He noticed how anxious she looked that he'd say they couldn't see her friends, "Okay, okay, we'll go to Rachel's," He sighed, and Phoebe flung herself at him, hugging him tightly,

"Thank you, thank you!" She gasped, kissing him hard. She couldn't wait to see Emma again, not to mention Erica and Jack, and last time she'd spoken to Joey he was getting pretty serious with a girl that she couldn't remember the name of. She couldn't wait to see all of her friends together again, all grown up.


	3. Chapter 3

Joey rolled onto his back and stretched, arching his back against the mattress and spreading himself sideways. He felt strange having the whole bed to himself again and, as he rolled from underneath the duvet and plodded into his kitchen, he found himself missing his girlfriend. He'd met Alex just after he'd moved to LA around two years ago to get serious about his acting career, and started dating her a year later. Once she'd asked him to move in with her because she didn't wanna live alone in such a big place he'd realised just how crazy he was about her. He hadn't felt like this since … well, since Rachel, 'scept this time she'd reciprocated his feelings immediately, and they were actually going somewhere. Joey considered his situation as he pulled a cereal box out and set it on the counter. Could he really see himself marrying Alex? Back when he was living in New York he couldn't see himself marrying anyone! He was Joey, for Gods sake! He poured an oversized bowl of coco puffs and went to fetch his mail, needing to talk to someone about it but not really knowing exactly who. He could talk to his sister, Gina, he supposed, but wouldn't she just tell him to stop being a baby? He used to talk to Chandler, but it'd been months since he'd last visited, and their last phone conversation had ended abruptly when Jack had spit up all over his father's shirt. It suddenly dawned on Joey just how different he had become. Four years previous he lived in an NY apartment with his friend and her baby daughter, across the hall from his best friend and his wife, barely getting any work. Now he lived in LA with his long-term girlfriend, in the middle of filming his second blockbuster movie. Joey Tribbiani had officially grown up. And it scared the hell out of him.

"This is Alex," She had walked into the door to the phone ringing loudly. Apparently not loudly enough to wake up her boyfriend, she thought, looking at him slumped sideways, cradling an empty cereal bowl in his lap.

"Alex? Er, hey. This is Rachel; I'm a friend of Joeys. Is he there?"

"A friend, huh?" She asked absent-mindedly, trying to shake him awake.

"Yeah, from New York?"

"Ah, you're that Rachel! I'm Alex, Joeys girlfriend,"

"The famous Alex!" She gasped, "y'know, my husband and I didn't really believe it when he told you he was movin' in. He's always been a bit …"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I sort of don't believe it myself. Hang on a sec," She lowered the phone from her ear and whispered "Joey. Joe, sweetie, it's Rachel on the phone,"

"Rachel?" He murmured sleepily,

"Uhuh,"

"Where?"

"The phone, baby?" Joey opened one eye and then closed it again. "Rachel? Can I get him to call you back; he's a little out of it,"

"Oh, sure, I'm not sure he has our new number," She reeled off the digits and then hung up the phone. "Ross?" She yelled,

"Yeah, Rach?"

"It's true. Her names Alex,"

"… jeez," He exclaimed, his face looking as shocked as Rachel felt. They looked at each other for a moment, too shocked to speak, and then a grin spread across Ross' face. "Looks like even Joey's an adult now," Rachel nodded, nibbling her thumb. "Hey," he said, striding up the corridor towards her. He stroked the hair away from her face, saying, "It's a good thing, right? Everyone's gotta grow up some time," She nodded, smiled and bobbed up to give him a quick kiss.

"Thanks for growing up with me,"

"Ditto."

At the same time in LA, Joey was looking up at his girlfriend through half closed eyes,

"Hey, baby. How you doin'?"

"Joe, wake up!" she said, pushing his shoulders. He caught her waist and pulled her down on top of him, sitting her on his lap.

"When did you get home?"

"Just now,"

"I missed you,"

"Aw, I missed you too sweetie," He stretched up to kiss her, and as he did so realised that, even if he was scared about getting older, he got to do it with an amazing woman that he loved. That he loved,

"I love you," He said, almost as shocked as she was. Her face split into a wide smile and she beamed down at him, stroking his three-day-stubble.

"I love you too," She kissed him again, her golden hair falling over his face, then she stood up and flung the phone at him, "Now, call your friend back and I'll fix us a snack, I'm starved,"

"But … don't you wanna … take this upstairs?" he winked, leaping up after her and then leaning enticingly on the banister.

"Turkey or boloney?" She called, ignoring his invitation.

"Turkey," he sighed, dialling the number on the slip of paper Alex had thrown at him with the phone.

It was weird hearing Rachel's voice again. It was even weirder hearing Emma calling for her parents in the background, and Ross calling her "baby" as she handed the phone over so the two men could talk while Rachel went to read her daughter a story. "They sounded like a real … family,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong they were together for ages before I moved out here and they're meant for each other it's just … I've not seen them in so long and they just seem to … fit," Joey was sat up in bed next to Alex, recalling the whole phone call to his tired girlfriend, who was trying desperately to keep a look of interest on her face while simultaneously falling asleep every few minutes.

"Anyway, they invited us to Thanksgiving but I said we couldn't make it?"

"Wha … why not?" Alex was jolted from her dozy state, "Why can't we go? I wanna meet your friends!"

"I already told my sister that we'd spend it with her,"

"Gina'll understand! She's got Michael, and Jimmy now!"

"I guess so … I just don't want to let her down,"

"Hey! You won't be letting anybody down, sweetie. She knows how much you love your friends, and you've not seen them in so long, plus you have to introduce the girl that you love," She smiled, giving him a persuasive kiss to seal the deal.

"Hello?" Ross grunted into the phone quietly so as not to wake his sleeping wife. Rachel hadn't been sleeping well lately so he hated to disturb her when she'd only just drifted off.

"Ross! It's Joey!"

"Joey? Joe, it's like 1am, what's up?" He whispered, sliding out of bed and padding into the kitchen in his boxers and bare feet.

"No, man, it's 11. Your clock must be wrong or something …" Ross waited for the penny to drop, but it didn't so he continued,

"What's up, Joe?"

"Me and Alex" Ross resisted the temptation to correct his grammar "can come to Thanksgiving after all!"

"Oh, Joe that's awesome, Rachel will be so happy,"

"Oh will I?" all of a sudden Rachel was standing behind Ross, pressing her belly right into his back so he could feel his son kicking wildly,

"He's a soccer player, huh?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, Joe. Listen, that's really great about thanksgiving, but can we maybe talk about this when it's not so late?"

"Jeez, you really are a dad, huh Ross? When 11 is late!" he guffawed to himself and then said "I'll call back tomorrow,"

"Yeah, bye," Ross set the phone down on the coffee table, kissed Rachel on the nose and directed the sleepy woman back to her bedroom, smiling to himself, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long to get up. I had serious writers block mixed with exams and a cold.**

**Hope you enjoy it (: **

Monica Bing shifted her weight to her other hand, leaning heavily on her palm as she scrubbed the underside of the cabinet. Chandler sat at the kitchen table, colouring with his children.

"Hey, Mon?"

"Yuhuh?"

"Did you ever call your mom back about the thanksgiving vacation?" Monica turned to look at him, a sheepish expression on her face,

"Er … Sure. Yeah, I … I did that," She stammered,

"Mon! You said you'd call her back. She wants to spend the holidays with her grandkids,"

"I know, I know, I just … C'mon Chandler, you really want to spend Thanksgiving with my parents in a dumb beach house?" She dropped her sponge into the bowl of soapy water and slid off of the counter, joining him at the table next to Erica, who was squabbling with Jack over the yellow crayola. Chandler looked at his wife,

"What do you suggest we do instead?"

"We could …" She stopped, looking at her children. She remembered back to their very first thanksgiving, the first in their house, when she had invited all of her friends round for the holidays. She remembered Phoebe shovelling turkey into her mouth for the first time ever while Mike eyed her plate grumpily, and Emma sitting up at the table with them and sharing her stuffing with her teddy bear. She remembered Joey not-crying about all the change, and the twins gurgling happily in their crib as Chandler blew raspberries and kissed them all over their tiny faces.

"Mon?"

"I guess it'll just be us!" she smiled, "You'd like that, right guys?" She said, taking the crayon and repeating herself, "just the four of us for thanksgiving this year?"

"No Grandma and Grandpa?" Jack asked,

"Nope, just You, Erica, Daddy and me!" he looked deep in thought, and then looked across at Erica, who had an identical expression on her almost identical face. They looked at each other for a few seconds, apparently considering it, and then both turned to their parents and nodded vigorously. Chandler suspected that they, like their mother, hadn't really been looking forward to going away with their grandparents. He leant over Jack for another crayon just as Monica's work pager vibrated loudly across the counter top. She grabbed it, and then reached for the phone,

"I might have to go in for a couple of hours. Julian's struggling with the rush," She smiled and kissed Chandler goodbye, then kissed Jack and Erica on matching rosy cheeks and hurried out, down the hall and out of the front door. Normally she would have walked the 20 minutes it took to get to_ Bings_, but Julian had sounded so frantic on the phone that she slipped into the Porsche her father had given her years ago and was pushing open the heavy kitchen door within 5 minutes. Julian span passed her, barking orders and sending waiters out with food. Monica smiled at her chaotic kitchen and grabbed Julian by the shoulders as he went to stir the bouillabaisse with a cheese grater,

"Sweetie,"

"Thank god! Monica, you gotta get in here, I'm going crazy. The sauce has lumps, the chickens dry and people keep requesting your duck confit from the other night. I don't know what I …"

"Honey, honey. You have to calm down. I'm here, okay? Right, tell Molly to scrap the sauce …" Monica leapt into chef-mode, feeling energy surge through her body, just as Chandler collapsed onto the couch, feeling his energy running out.

"Daddy's just going to … sleep forever,"

"Da-ad!" Erica whined, trying to tug him up by his wrist. He sat up slightly and then grabbed her round the waist and flung her down onto the cushions next to him, tickling her until she squealed with laughter.

"Can we get pizza, daddy?" Jack asked, dive-bombing between his twin sister and father.

"Sure, as long as you don't tell mom," Chandler sighed, leaning sideways across his children and grabbing the phone, stealing a kiss from both of his children on the way back up, making Erica squirm and Jack pull a face.

* * *

When Monica finally crossed the porch and slid her key in the lock, wondering how three people had managed to leave on every single light in the house, it was gone nine, but she didn't expect her children to be in their beds. She found them all sprawled across the couch, surrounded in half eaten pizza with a movie blaring out from the TV. Monica grinned, shutting it off and stroking the hair off her husband's forehead. He smiled and opened his eyes slowly,

"Hey,"

"Hi," She smiled back, "help me out here?" She scooped Erica into her arms and carried her down the hall to her room, closely followed by Chandler, who had Jack snuggled into his chest.

"So, you had fun, huh?" she said, picking up the pizza boxes and straightening the couch cushions.

"Yeah," he laughed, taking the boxes from her, "How's the restaurant?"

"It's still standing. Julian just hasn't got the hang of being alone yet," Chandler followed her through to the kitchen, knocking his knee against the phone table as he passed it and knocking the small pad and pen onto the floor. He noticed a small scribbled note that he recalled making earlier that evening, before Jack had decided to play Everest and scale the closet,

"Oh, Mon! I forgot! Guess who called earlier?"

"Oh, it wasn't my mom was it? Did you say –?"

"No, no, it wasn't your mom. But it is Thanksgiving related,"

"Oh yeah?" Monica looked up, dipping her hand into the box and pulling out a lukewarm slice, picking mushrooms from the top absentmindedly as she looked expectantly at Chandler,

"Rachel called asking if we wanted to spend thanksgiving with everyone,"

"Everyone?"

"Everyone, Joe's coming back from LA, Pheebs and Mike'll be there with their kids. Everyone back together again, as a group,"

"Oh my gosh!" Monica leapt up in her seat, "that sounds … hang on, where's this?"

"Erm … Rachel's, I guess," Monica stopped,

"Mon?"

"Rachel's cooking?"

"I suppose,"

"Rachel can't cook,"

"Maybe she learnt,"

"Yeah, maybe,"

"Mon? D'you wanna call back and offer to cook?"

"Please!" she cried, taking the phone that he was offering her. Chandler smiled at her as she listened to it ring and then slipped into a long overdue conversation with her best friend. He grinned at the smile that had split her face open as soon as she'd heard Rachel's voice, and moved around the table to kiss her lightly on the forehead. Monica slid an arm around his waist, resting her head on his stomach. He draped an arm across her shoulders and they stayed like that for a moment, Monica occasionally laughing or replying to whatever Rachel had said. Finally she hung up the phone and smiled up at Chandler.

"We're gonna have Thanksgiving at their new place, and we're going over early so I can cook,"

"Sounds good to me, sweetie. Now, I gotta go to bed,"

"Yeah, me too," Chandler pulled his wife to her feet and took her hand leading her to their bedroom, looking in on their sleeping children as they went.


	5. Chapter 5

**This was going to be the last chapter, but I got a little carried away, hope you don't mind (:**

**Please review, i'm dead paranoid about my writing, so good or bad - I welcome constructive criticism. **

**Thanks.**

"Mommy!" Emma woke her parents early the morning of Thanksgiving Day, leaping across the bed and landing heavily on both of her parents, "Geddup, Geddup, it's Thanksgiving!" The excitement wasn't usual for this holiday, but Emma hadn't seen her favourite Aunts, Uncles and cousins in months, and today they'd all be in the same room, possibly with presents. She bounced again and one of her knees contacted with Ross' gut. He groaned and rolled over, sending his daughter toppling down onto the bed. Rachel shifted slightly, wanting to roll over but being weighed down by now both of her children. Rachel reached over her convex midriff and stroked her daughters brown hair away from her face,

"If it's before 8 you are in serious trouble, young lady," She whispered. Emmas face went pink and she snuggled down under the covers.

"Hey, Daddy?" Rachel whispered, rubbing Ross' bare arm,

"He's sleeping,"

"It's your turn to make the tea,"

"Daddy's turn is when his alarm clock goes off at 9, which is in ... 2 hours. Then, and only then, will Daddy be making any herbal tea for a certain pregnant woman who, if she wants tea, shall be getting her own,"

"Now that's not the way to treat the mother of your children is it?" Rachel prodded Ross in the back on the head and he twisted his head round, squinting against the light that had invaded their spacious bedroom through the gaps in the blinds, spilling across the baby blue bed sheets in thin lines of yellow. Ross sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Daddy?" Emma tugged on the back of Ross' pale green shirt,

"Yah," he breathed, falling back into his pillows,

"Can I make the tea?"

"No, sweetie, it's too dangerous. You could get juice for everyone though? How 'bout it?" Emma's face lit up and she scampered out of the room. Ross shuffled into the spot that she had vacated and wished his wife good morning with a small peck on the lips.

"Well, good morning sunshine," She smiled, in a better mood than she usually was this early (as in before noon).

"Hey," He smiled, resting a hand on her stomach as it was the only place he could reach without severely squashing her, "Excited about today?"

"Oh, so excited!" She grinned, "I've got all the decorations out ready, and Emma made some really cute stuff at school which I can put on the table. Oh, Ross, this day is gonna be so perfect. Everyone back together again, all the kids playing. It's like the old days, but all grown up," She shuffled closer to him, and he slipped an arm across her shoulders.

"We really are all grown up now, huh. I mean, even Joey's settling down, and I never thought that'd happen,"

"No, me neither. I thought that we'd be sitting in the coffee house at 90 years old and he'd be out their hitting on women and being inappropriate," she sighed fondly, "I wonder what this Alex girl'll be like. I mean, he hardly mentioned her when he was here last,"

"Well, they must be pretty serious. Y'know, Joey living with a girl is the equivalent of getting married. And, I should know," Rachel smiled up at Ross, and they lay like that for a while until Emma edged back into the room slowly, concentrating painfully hard on not spilling the three cups she had balanced on a princess plate. Ross bounded out of bed to help her, and soon the three of them were snuggled up again, Emma curled around her mother's stomach and Ross losing feeling in his arm as his two favourite ladies used it as a headrest.

* * *

At almost the same time Frank and Teddy were bounding into their parents room, Frank dragging Francis' hand.

"Mommy, Daddy! Guess what day it is! Guess what day!" Teddy almost screamed, leaping onto his father's stomach and knocking the air out of him. Mike and Phoebe arranged themselves around the small people that had clambered, uninvited into their bed,

"Careful Frank, you're squashing your sister. Teddy, stop kicking your father! Francis, that is Teddy's pillow!" and much of the same followed for a few minutes until the Hannigan children finally settled down in the very limited space between their parents, who were now both clinging on to their respective edges of bed to stop from toppling out onto the floor.

"Today's gonna be so awesome," whispered Teddy into the sleepy silence,

"I know, right? I hope Jack brings his laser gun,"

"Trust chandler to buy a laser gun for a four year old," muttered Mike,

"It's not a real gun, Mike," Phoebe scoffed, rolling her eyes at him over the top of three heads, two blonde one brunette. Optimistically she closed her eyes again, believing that she might just be able to get a few more hours sleep before they had to pack the children into the car, which would most probably take longer than the actual drive. She snuggled down into Franks back, inhaling the powdery, lemony smell of her son.

"Mom, stop it, you're tickling!" Franks squealed, arching his back and squirming away from her, causing an avalanche of bodies coming to a halt on the floor.

"At least you had Daddy to break your fall," Phoebe stifled a giggle as she hauled everyone back onto the bed, slowly uncovering her husband who lay bruised and dazed on the carpet.

"Y'okay down there, sweetie?" She asked, taking both of his hands and hauling him to his feet,

"Oh yeah, I love a good beating in the morning. Coffee?" As he passed Phoebe he kissed her surreptitiously, carefully waiting until his children were all too preoccupied with a pillow fight to notice that their parents were within touching distance.

"Ew, gross!" Wailed Teddy, flinging a pillow at his dad and hitting him square in the face. He grinned mischievously and continued to kiss his wife all over the face, scooping her into an exaggerated hug.

"Stop!" Screamed the children, pelting them with cushions and Francis' old and imaginatively named bear, Bear.

"This little guy is looking a little worse for wear, Francy," Mike laughed, finally releasing his wife and scooping the bear off the ground, pretending to check his temperature.

"Is he sick?" Francis' face suddenly fell, and she looked petrified. Mike considered it for a moment, and then whispered,

"I think he'll pull through." With that he grabbed Francis and Teddy around the waist and, carrying one child under either arm and clutching Bear in his hand, lugged them out of the room, followed closely by Phoebe carrying Frank, fireman style.

* * *

Alex and Joey left New York airport hand in hand, rushing through the rain and tossing their bags into the back of the cab. Alex leant into Joey, snuggling into his shoulder and closing her eyes. She hadn't slept much since they had dragged themselves to bed the night before, and the stress of getting through airport security and the flight had taken it out of her. Joey slung an arm around her shoulders, and peered down at her. Her short floral dress didn't really go with his large jumper that she had borrowed from him, but he liked to see her in it. He felt a sort of proud ownership as he sat in the back of the car, his girlfriend in his arms (and his clothes). He kissed the top of her blonde curls and lay back, falling asleep with in seconds.

* * *

"Mon?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Monica ordered, her children trooping out of the front door and into the car, each clutching their own Tupperware dish.

"Mon?"

"C'mon, slacker! We're running late, we were s'posed to leave at 0900 hours, it's 9:03!"

"Monica! It's happening again!"

"Chandler! I'm fine. I'm in control," She reassured, thrusting a heavy dish into his hand and grabbing a box containing her most essential chef tools from the table,

"Mon, you have to dial down the crazy. You're scaring the children!"

"Just let me have this one, Chandler?"

"Monica,"

"Okay, okay. But can I keep the military time?"

"No," he said, turning the lights off and strolling down the steps towards the car,

"Oh, come on! You gotta gimme something!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so here it is. The friends all back together again.**

**I was going for just showing the closeness of everyone, and tried to portray their close friendship and how much they've missed eachother without getting too soppy.**

**I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it (:****  
**

"They're here, they're here!" Squealed Rachel, leaping up like an excited child as the doorbell rang. She stumbled to the door and wrenched it open, revealing her best friends and their two children laden with dishes.

"Rachel! Oh my god, look how huge you are!" Monica and Rachel fell into each others arms, squealing and squeezing while Chandler, Jack and Erica struggled past the two excited women and greeted Uncle Ross.

"Hey buddy!" Chandler hugged his old friend, with much less enthusiasm than the girls, and slapped him on the arm. Soon Rachel and Ross had hugged and kissed their guests and Monica snapped into action.

"Concentric circles, Rach,"

"Monica?"

"Yeah – Ah, Rach! Every year!" She exclaimed as Rachel thrust a marshmallow up her nose. Erica and Emma giggled from where they were squatting on the carpet playing with their dolls.

"I missed this," Rachel smiled, dumping the rest of the marshmallows randomly into the dish and leant back in her chair,

"Me too," They smiled at each other, and then Monica spotted the sweet potatoes. She opened her mouth to complain when the doorbell rang again, and Joey bounded into the little kitchen.

"Hey guys!" He cried as the girls rushed to embrace him. He squeezed them both tightly, then held Rachel out at arms length,

"God, Rach. You're so big!" He hugged her again, and then turned towards the door, where a blonde was stood, waiting anxiously. "Er, guys. This is my girlfriend, Alex. Alex this is everybody, Monica and Rachel. And that's Ross,"

"Hi, it's so nice to meet you. I've heard so much about everyone," She smiled and shook hands with everyone, and the friends exchanged looks, letting Joey know that they approved.

* * *

Once everyone had arrived, and Phoebe's children had joined the others on the carpet, they sat around the table with Monica bossing Chandler and trying to arrange a system.

"Phoebe, you wanna stir counter clockwise …"

"No, Mon. I don't," She nodded and then turned back to Ross, who was telling an unusually interesting story about his last class at the university, where he'd had a debate with three of the conscious students about who would win in a fight between a Corythosaurus and an Anatosaurus. Alex had started a nervous conversation with Rachel and Chandler, and Joey was 'helping.'

"Joey, stop eating all the stuffing!"

"I'm starving! How longs it gonna be, Mon?"

"The more you eat the longer it'll be! Go play with the kids or something, isn't the game on?"

Eventually Joey shut off the TV and followed the kids to the table where his friends were already all seated.

"Kids, you're down here, Joe you're here," Rachel directed him to the empty chair between Alex and Mike, looked around the table and then took a seat between Ross and Monica. She smiled around at them all, a small tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Pheebs, pass the yams?" Ross reached across her, "Rach? Hey … you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Happy tears, promise," She smiled, and Ross bounced a kiss on to her cheek before piling yams onto both of their plates. They all began to recall their past thanksgivings, remembering the Geller cup (which now sat on the mantle at their parent's house) and Rachel blushed as Phoebe asked her if she had made her famous meat trifle again. Chandler told the famous "more turkey, Mister Chandler?" story, that even his children were sick of now, and Emma ran to get her Grand Supreme Little Darling trophy. The friends laughed and chattered with each other, remembering old times and creating new ones that now included their children, Alex and Mike. They looked around and smiled at their close group of friends, all knowing at that precise moment that they were most thankful for the fact that they were still a group of best friends, even after all these years.

"Coffee?" Rachel handed Ross a mug across the back of the couch and then slumped down next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder and stroking Emma's hair as she curled into Ross' lap. Monica was laying with her legs over Chandler, her two children propping each other up as they tried not to fall asleep. Phoebe sat with her back against the couch, her feet in Mikes lap as she cradled a sleepy Francis, who was engrossed in the soap opera that was playing on TV, and Mike slung his arms around both of his sons as he asked about the game they had watched earlier, while Joey and Alex were curled up together in a chair having a silent thumb war.

"I'm stuffed,"

"Me too, Monica, that was awesome,"

"I KNOW!" She blasted. Chandler looked down at her, but she just nodded smugly and closed her eyes.

"Oh, guys I almost forgot. It's picture time!" They all groaned as Ross bounded up and put the camera on top of the TV. They arranged themselves lazily so they were slightly closer together, and Ross slid back into his seat so Emma could move back to sit with both of her parents. They smiled up happily at the camera, and Monica reached over and took Rachel and Phoebe's hands in her own. The flash caught the moment that Joey realised he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Alex, and the happiness that all the children felt, being back together. But most importantly, the picture that each of the friends treasured for years caught the friends back together as a group, knowing that it would take more than age to split them up.


	7. Chapter 7

Emma sat with her brother at the dining room table, surrounded in thanksgiving dinner debris, leaning across the take something else from the box,

"I can't believe how long it's been since we saw all this stuff. Hey, remember this? Guys, look," She called across the apartment to her friends, who were slumped on the sofa.

"Look, Teddy, there's Aunty Phoebe and Uncle Mike, and look how big mom was!" She pointed at Rachel's bulging belly, "that was you!" She teased, tweaking Sam's nose fondly. Sam glared at his sister and then looked back at the picture.

"Look how tiny you all were," He pointed out to Frank, who was grinning at the camera with no front teeth, and Francis, who was cradled in her mothers arms.

"Oh god, look at us! We were even dressed the same," laughed Erica, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear and trying to get a closer look at the mirror images that sat leaning against each other next to Monica and Chandler.

"How long ago was this?"

"… 20 years," Emma said, checking the date that her mother had scrawled on the back. Emma looked across at her baby brother, and then up at the twins and her other cousins who were stood in a line, Francis in the middle with her arms around her two brothers.

"We'll have to show this to Alice," said Frank, pointing to his Uncle Joey,

"Aw, she'll love to see this," grinned Sam, leaning forward.

"y'know, 20 years ago they weren't even married. How crazy is that?" She smiled again, looking at her six-year-old self in the picture, curled up with her parents. She reached over the table and took Sam's hand and he squeezed it gently.

"I love you guys," Francis said, leaning across and hugging Emma backwards.

"Ditto," Emma grinned, and then bounded across the room and found a spare nail that was sticking out of her wall. She hung the picture up and then stood back to look at it, joined by her family moments later. Sam put an arm around her, and she slid an arm around Erica's waist, who leaned into her brother, and Jack swung an arm across her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Francis leaned her chin on Sams shoulder, and her brothers stood behind her. They all smiled at the picture, standing in silence for a moment, and then returned to sitting on the couch.

"Okay, I have a question – If you_ had_ to, would you have arms for legs or legs for arms?"


End file.
